Plymouth Family Physicians, a H3 participating practice, honored with the 2017 Hypertension Control Champion Award at the CDC Grand Rounds

Dr. George Schroeder of Plymouth Family Physicians was presented with the 2017 Hypertension Control Champion Award at the Center for Disease Control Public Health Grand Rounds, “Million Hearts 2022: A Compelling Call to Action,” which was held on February 20. Dr. Schroeder was one of 24 recipients of the 2017 Hypertension Champion award, which honors clinicians, clinical practices, and health systems that have achieved exceptional rates of hypertension control. The 2017 Champions have demonstrated proven strategies to achieve blood pressure control at rates above the 2017 Million Hearts target of 70 percent. Dr. Schroeder’s practice, Plymouth Family Physicians, participates in CHiP’s Healthy Hearts in the Heartland (H3) project, a federally funded research program working with small practice clinics in the Midwest to implement and evaluate quality improvement strategies for cardiovascular care.

At the Grand Rounds event, Dr. Schroeder delivered a presentation about Plymouth Family Physicians’ approach to improving its hypertension control rates, and the lessons learned throughout the process. In his presentation, he emphasized the importance of cultivating and educating all practice staff members in quality improvement, and joining a practice-based research network, such as the H3 project. A livestream of the Grand Rounds event and Dr. Schroeder’s talk can be found here.

Each year since 2012, the Million Hearts Initiative has recognized a total of 83 Hypertension Control Champions that serve a total of more than 13 million adults. It is now accepting applications for the 2018 Hypertension Control Challenge, which is open to practitioners and practices that have achieved hypertension control rates of at least 80 percent. Learn more about the 2018 Challenge guidelines here; the deadline to submit a nomination is April 6, 2018.

From all of us at CHITREC, a huge congratulations to Dr. Schroeder and Plymouth Family Physicians for this wonderful achievement!